Multicolor fluorescence biosensors reveal a burning need for diversity in the single-cell metabolic landscape.

Although cellular heterogeneity has been described for metabolic pathways, the upstream mechanisms, the downstream consequences, and the flexibility and transmission of these preferences to daughter cells remains largely unknown. Using live-cell imaging, Kosaisawe et al. demonstrate that cellular metabolism, determined by glycolysis and ATP, is spontaneously heterogeneous, plastic, and regulatory.